New Orleans - 31/1/13

Out in time to get to our meeting spot for the swamp tour pickup. The bus driver was called Rene (Rennay? not sure), and while on the 3/4 hour journey to the tour base, he was pointing out the damage of Katrina, and the rebuildilng that was still ongoing. Plenty of derelict building lots, boarded up houses and even one theme park in the distance, rusting slowly. He explained that how after Katrina hit, there were people who couldn't come back, or didn't want to due to family members and friends who had been lost in the disaster. He made you realise - whilst you might be aware of the city's circumstances - how much of it is based on reclaimed land and swamp, and how hard it must be to return to the place that was the scene of so much devastation.

Arriving at the swamp tour, we were introduced to our guide, Captain Bishop. He took us on an interesting tour of the swamp, obviously looking for 'gators', but saw lots of other wildlife such as tree snakes, wild feral pigs, turtles sunning themselves, blue herons, egrets & a red tailed hawk. After much speeding around the byways, again with an explanation as to how Katrina had changed the shape and course of the river & swamp area (filling in some areas, blowing out others, house boat & ship wreckage etc.), we eventually located some alligators. This was Bishop's 'secret' place for seeing 'gators, and we weren't disappointed. This is currently gator hibernation season as the water is still a bit cold for them - however, as it was a sunny day, we did see some sitting on logs warming up.

It is illegal to hunt alligators, unless you have a licence. The licencing works by allocating tags to people that may want them, with one tag to be used per 'gator caught - this way the numbers can be regulated in a manageable manner. The tags are apparently allocated on a lottery basis - however we did get the inkling of the political nature of tag assignment, as our guide said it always seemed to be the same people who got the tags! No change there then.

The whole tour was really good fun, and Bishop was a great guide with lots of knowledge of the flora & fauna - unsurprising as it turned out he lived in the more populated area of the swamps, with his own jetty, boat etc. all of his life. Getting back to NO around 3.30, we decided to try crawfish (boiled and in etouffe) & alligator as recommended by our Captain at a particular restaurant, entertained as seems the norm here, by a live band with a 2 hour slot. The area was starting to fill up with the superbowl crowds, but still not that busy, but you could see glimmerings of the chaos to come. [Crawfish are more or less mini lobsters, about as long as your thumb, and fiddly to eat and boiled with bay leaves which is abundant in the swamps. Although they tasted ok, the bays overpowered the flavour.]

After lunch, we checked out Cafe Du Monde, a place famous for their beignets. These are almost exactly the same as doughnuts, but in a pillow shape, and covered in icing sugar. Whilst eating these, we meandered back home absorbing the atmosphere and got home around 5pm. Beignets, while celebrated around here, weren't that exciting. They were nice, but not necessary to get from Cafe Du Monde in particular we think - european bakeries all produce cakes that are far nicer.

That evening, we walked back to Frenchman street to check out 'The Spotted Cat' which had been recommended for its music by the tourist information guy. Next door to it, there was a local craft market still open (8pm) that we had a quick wander around before popping into the Spotted Cat. Inside the Cat, there was a 3 piece playing - but we weren't really feeling this, and soon after sitting down, they finished for a break. Just across the road was Cafe Negril, so scooted over and into the old favourite. If somewhere that you visited once 2 days before could be considered 'old', that is. For those of you who watch the HBO show 'Treme', you might (or not) be excited to know that in Negril was Davis (Steve Zahn) checking out the band and eating tacos. Ordering tacos ourselves, we sat down with a beer to enjoy the 7 piece, who did not disappoint. It was getting late-ish by this point, so we left to walk home, as tomorrow was an early start and a mammoth drive.